Agriculture: Intensive Farming

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many intensive pig farms exist in the United Kingdom; and how many house more than (1) 500, and (2) 1000, pigs.

Lord De Mauley: We do not collect data based on the intensiveness of farm businesses and to do so would be at disproportionate cost. However, at June 2010 there were 9,993 commercial holdings with pigs in the UK. Of these, 636 holdings had between 501 and 1,000 pigs and a further 1,273 had more than 1,000 pigs.
	These figures are from the 2010 Farm Structure Survey.

Architecture and the Built Environment

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that the review of architecture and the built environment chaired by Sir Terry Farrell takes account of the case for urban areas to include open green spaces, public parks and adequate public access to the banks of rivers which flow through urban areas.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The review of architecture and the built environment led by Sir Terry Farrell will take a holistic approach to the built environment including the case for urban areas to include open green spaces, public parks and adequate public access to the banks of rivers which flow through urban areas.

Arts: Works of Art

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of works of art in the National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum and National Maritime Museum remain in store; how many are on loan to other galleries and institutions; and what arrangements have been made for loans to historic houses open to the public.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: There are 2,344 works of art in the National Gallery collection and the gallery normally aims to have about 80% of the collection on display. The gallery is currently undergoing renovation works, so a large number of works which are normally
	on display are in store. Currently 43% are on display and 57% in store. At present, 98 works of art in the National Collection are currently on loan to other institutions.
	The V&A Collections are available to everyone—in galleries, through the Prints and Drawing and Blythe House Archive and Library Study Rooms or by appointment. The V&A collections consist of 226,747 museum objects and works of art, which are suitable for long-term gallery display. These are the display collections. In total there were 59,597 collection items on display (26% of the display collections) in V&A galleries and the Museum of Childhood at 31 March 2013, a further 2% were on loan to UK and international venues, and approximately 72% of the display collections were in storage. Between April 2012 and March 2013, an additional 5,442 items were on display in UK and international venues. At 31 March 2013 there were 842 collection items on loan to historic houses that are open to the public.
	The National Maritime Museum’s collection includes 3,112 works of art (oil paintings, miniatures, sculpture). All of these are accessible to everyone—in galleries, by appointment to visit the stores or via the collections section of rmg.co.uk.
	Of the 3,112 works of art: 234 (8%) are currently on display in the Museum galleries,135 (4%) are currently on loan to other galleries and institutions (including one to Mapperton House, a private historic house belonging to the Earl of Sandwich that is open to the public on scheduled days in the year) and 2,743 (88%) are in storage or conservation.
	The arrangements for loans to historic houses open to the public are the same as those made for all loans and are as described at the following link: http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/collections/borrowing-and-donating/borrowing-from-our-collections/borrowing-from-our-collections.

Aviation: Air Quality

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Attlee on 16 May (WA 7), whether the Department of Health holds any information on when the Committee on Toxicity will consider the research papers on cabin air quality submitted to it by the Department for Transport in May 2012.

Earl Howe: As an independent scientific advisory committee, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) chair and secretariat schedules the timing of submitted reports for COT consideration. The department has consulted with the COT secretariat and determined that COT is intending to review the Aircraft Cabin Air Sampling Studies commissioned by the Department for Transport, at the COT meeting on 17 September 2013.

Courts: Bail

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the second report of the Bail Observation Project on Immigration Bail Hearings, and in particular the section on the independence of immigration judges.

Lord McNally: The second report of the Bail Observation Project on Immigration Bail Hearings was published on 14 May 2013, and officials within HM Courts and Tribunals Service are currently assessing the report, as well as contributions made by the Bail Observation Project to a review that is currently underway of the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).
	The president of the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber has also recently received a copy of the report. He has stated that all applicants and persons present at hearings, including bail hearings should be treated with courtesy and respect. He is currently considering the report and will be providing a substantive response to the Bail Observation Project.
	How a bail hearing is conducted, including the evaluation of evidence is a matter for the presiding immigration judge. Immigration judges are impartial and each case is considered on its individual merits. The judiciary are independent of Government and it is important that as Government Minister, I take no action which could be viewed us undermining this position.

Economy: Sport and Recreation

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the value of angling to the United Kingdom economy.

Lord De Mauley: No estimate has been made of the value of angling to the UK economy as a whole. However, figures from different countries and from different years are available:
	in Scotland the contribution of freshwater and game angling to the economy is £134 million (at 2011 prices), and for sea angling £141 m (2009 figures); andin England and Wales expenditure on freshwater and game angling was £1.16 billion (in 2005), and supported 37,000 full-time jobs. Sea anglers' expenditure was £538 million (in 2004), and supported 19,000 full-time jobs.
	All of these figures cover both direct expenditure, eg on tackle and bait, and related expenditure eg on travel and accommodation. The figures do not include the market value of freshwater and game fisheries (which in England and Wales for example were estimated at £3 billion in 2001).
	Figures are not currently available for Northern Ireland.

Elections: Registration

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with the Electoral Commission over reports that a company has advertised their services to assist people to register to vote in return for a fee; and whether they have plans to legislate to outlaw such practices.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Cabinet Office officials have discussed the issue with the Electoral Commission and the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform has written to the commission’s chair. The Government and the commission share the view that the service offered by the website in question is completely unnecessary. No one needs to pay to register to vote. Completing an application to register is very straightforward. Any advice needed is available entirely free of charge from either local authority electoral services teams or from the Electoral Commission itself.
	The Electoral Commission took swift action to address concerns about the service in question. The Government will keep the situation under review and consider whether any further steps might be appropriate.

EU: Common Agricultural Policy

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total amount paid to the United Kingdom agricultural industry from the European Union Common Agricultural Policy in each of the past three years for which figures are available.

Lord De Mauley: The amount the UK received from the common agricultural policy (CAP) over the past three years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 CAP Payments 2010-12—Euro (€) millions 
			 Year* 2010 2011 2012 
			 Pillar 1 3,424 3,309 3,348 
			 Pillar 2 512 653 742 
			 Total CAP payments 3,936 3,962 4,090 
		
	
	* EU financial year (16 October-15 October)
	The figures provided include expenditure on direct aids to farmers, market price support and rural development, but do not include the amount of financing provided by the UK Government to match fund expenditure under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

EU: Common Agricultural Policy

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord De Mauley on 9 May (WS 51) on the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council, whether there was discussion of major reform of the common agricultural policy as offered in return for a reduction in the United Kingdom's rebate agreed in the last Parliament.

Lord De Mauley: The European Council conclusions of 2003 included a commitment to a mid-term heath check of the policy (CAP), which took place in 2009.
	In the context of the current CAP reform negotiations the UK Government have been pushing for a smaller, simpler and greener CAP. Past reforms have made good progress in moving away from subsidies linked to production and we want to see this continue. As part of the negotiations we have also seen the first ever cut to the budget for direct payments (subsidy).
	The negotiations are now in the trilogue phase between the Irish presidency (representing EU Agriculture Ministers), the European Parliament and the European Commission. The Irish presidency is hoping to secure political agreement to the CAP reform regulations at Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 24 June.

EU: Olive Oil

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they voted against European Union rules to ban restaurants from serving olive oil in jugs and open bowls.

Lord De Mauley: During negotiations on an amendment to EU Marketing Standards for olive oil (Commission Regulation no. 29/2012) the Government consistently opposed a new EU requirement that bottles containing olive oil in the catering sector be non-refillable and non-resealable from 1 January 2014. However, this only formed one element of the proposals which also included improved labelling provisions for consumers. The UK, therefore, abstained in the final vote. Given the support for the proposal from olive oil producing member states, a vote against the proposal would have had no impact on the outcome. However, common sense has now prevailed; the EU Agriculture Commissioner announced on 23 May that the proposal is being withdrawn and that that he will consult further on the issue before deciding next steps.

Health: Chronic Back Pain

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Danish Rheumatic Association that effective antibiotic treatment can tackle one of the causes of chronic back pain for those with excess fluid in their vertebrae.

Earl Howe: The department has made no assessment of the findings published by researchers in Denmark that effective antibiotic treatment can tackle one of the causes of chronic back pain for those with excess fluid in their vertebrae.
	These findings are encouraging. However, they are not definitive. Further research will be needed to confirm these findings before any treatment is likely to be approved and licensed for routine use in the United Kingdom. There will also need to be extensive safety investigations as antibiotics are not generally given for prolonged periods.

Higher Education

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that both further and higher education institutions provide adequate services in support of students' mental well-being.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: Universities have duties under the Equality Act 2010 to support disabled students in higher education, including those with mental health conditions. It is a long-established principle that universities have a duty of care to their students. This is also true for further education colleges where the age range of students is wider. Both types of institution will determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students to offer appropriate support.
	The Government provide funding to HE institutions, through the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to help them recruit and support disabled students. In addition the Government provide direct support to the students themselves through disabled students’ allowances (DSAs). We also provide additional learning support (ALS) funding to FE colleges and providers to help them meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities so that they can participate fully in education and training. This can include those learners with mental health needs.
	There is already a great deal of guidance available to institutions on supporting students with mental health conditions from a range of sector and medical bodies, including the Heads of University Counselling Services, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education (AMOSSHE), the Association of Colleges, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Disability Rights UK and from the UniversitiesUK/Guild HE Working Group for the Promotion of Mental Well-Being in Higher Education.
	In addition the Equalities Challenge Unit (ECU) are undertaking a survey in 2013 exploring the support that universities and colleges provide to people experiencing mental health difficulties which they intend will result in a series of short briefings targeted at staff and students, which will highlight ways to promote an inclusive environment for individuals experiencing mental health difficulties.

Homeless People

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the judgment in OR v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Isle of Anglesey, they will take steps to amend the definition of “dwelling” so that a night shelter for homeless people will qualify as a dwelling and enable housing benefit to be claimable.

Lord Freud: The judgment confirmed the intent of housing benefit is that it is available to help people on low income to obtain and keep a home. Housing benefit has never been intended as a means of direct funding for night shelters.
	The judgment pointed out that a claim for housing benefit from accommodation acting as a shelter under the current rules could be successful depending on circumstances of the case. The Government have no plans to change the current housing benefit and universal credit regulations under which such decisions could be made.

Homeless People

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, before making changes to the housing benefit regulations, they consulted any organisations in Manchester and Salford that had referred people to the Narrowgate night shelter for emergency overnight help.

Lord Freud: The Government have not changed the housing benefit regulations that might affect people in these circumstances.

Legal Aid

Baroness O'Loan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prison law cases funded by legal aid in (1) 2008–09, (2) 2009–10, (3) 2010–11, (4) 2011–12, and (5) 2012–13, related to (a) prison conditions, (b) treatment by staff, (c) discrimination, (d) communications and visits, (e) mother and baby issues, (f) compassionate release, (g) behaviour courses, or (h) other treatment issues; and in what proportion of those cases the prisoner or litigant was successful.

Lord McNally: In 2011-12 the total number of prison law cases funded by the criminal legal aid scheme was 43,000. This includes sentencing matters, disciplinary matters, parole board reviews and treatment issues.
	Legal aid must be preserved for those most in need and where a lawyer's services are genuinely needed. We are currently consulting on a package of proposals to transform legal aid, including the proposal to restrict the scope of criminal legal aid for prison law matters so that prisoners no longer receive legal aid for issues related to their treatment in prison or the regime they are subject to. We estimate that this will save taxpayers approximately £4 million and reduce by about 11,000 the number of legally-aided cases brought by prisoners a year. The majority of these matters can be dealt with by the prison service's complaints system.
	The categories as expressed in the question have only been used since July 2010 meaning that the LAA/LSC can only provide information from this point onwards. Since July 2010 the LAA/LSC has funded four prison law treatment cases in the categories above, billed in the financial years as follows: 2010-11— 2 cases (one falling in (d) “communications and visits”, one falling in (h) “other'), 2011-12—one case (falling in (d) “communications and visits”), 2012-13—one case (falling in (h) “other”).
	The Legal Aid Agency does not record whether a claim in this category of legal aid is successful. Whether a claimant deems the outcome of a case to be successful may depend on his or her circumstances.

Legal Aid

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the competitive tendering proposals for criminal legal aid, as set out in Ministry of Justice consultation Transforming Legal Aid: Delivering a More Credible and Efficient System, upon (1) a client’s right to choose their legal representation, (2) the availability of legal representation and advice in rural areas, and (3) high street solicitors’ firms.

Lord McNally: The Government have consulted on a number of proposals to reform legal aid via the Transforming Legal Aid: Delivering a More Credible and Efficient System consultation which closes on 4 June 2013.
	(1) Client choice:
	Quality assured duty solicitors and lawyers will still be available—just as they are now. If the proposals are implemented all providers would be required to satisfy specified quality standards when they submit their tenders and subsequently through contractual requirements. They would therefore all be capable and competent of delivering criminal legal aid services to any client.
	(2) and (3) Rural areas and high streets:
	The proposals discuss reducing the number of contracts managed by the Legal Aid Agency, not the number of firms. The market is fragmented with the LAA currently contracting with over 1,600 solicitors firms delivering criminal legal aid. There is too little work to sustain some of their businesses and is clearly not the most efficient way of running a system. The proposed model would result in a consolidation of the market but does not mean that smaller firms of solicitors will go out of business. Some may choose to join together to apply for a contract, others may decide to act as agents.
	The anticipated impact of the proposals has been captured in five impact assessment documents available to download from the consultation webpage: https://consultjustice.gov.uk/digital-communications/transforming-1egal-aid.

Legal Aid

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any changes in the arrangements for legal aid provision resulting from the Ministry of Justice consultation Transferring Legal Aid: Delivering a more credible and efficient system will be implemented through primary legislation.

Lord McNally: The Government have consulted on a number of proposals to reform legal aid via the Transforming Legal Aid. Delivering a More Credible and Efficient System consultation which closed on 4 June 2013.
	We recognise that significant steps to reform civil Legal Aid and bring costs under control have already been taken but given the current financial climate, it is now necessary to make further savings to ensure that we are getting the best deal for the taxpayer by ensuring that limited public resources are targeted on those cases which justify it and those people who need it, encourage efficiency and support our wider efforts to transform the justice system.
	We believe only secondary legislation would be required to implement the proposals as set out in the consultation paper.

Leveson Inquiry

Lord Soley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on how many occasions since the publication of the Leveson Report the Prime Minister or other Ministers responsible for bringing forward legislation on its recommendations have met editors, owners or senior executives of newspapers.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations, including meetings with newspaper and other media proprietors, editors
	and senior executives, are published on a quarterly basis. Details can be accessed on the Cabinet Office website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications.

Marriage

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many marriages have been registered in (1) England and (2) Wales in each of the last 10 years; of that number, how many were (a) civil and (b) religious ceremony weddings; and how many civil partnerships have been formed in each year since commencement of the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: I understand that the Office for National Statistics has written to you as follows:
	The following table shows the number of marriages registered between 1999 and 2009 and the number of civil partnerships registered between 2005 and 2011. Marriage statistics for England and Wales separately only become available when final marriage statistics for the calendar year are published. Final marriage statistics for 2010 are due to be published in June/July 2013 alongside provisional 2011 marriage statistics for England and Wales combined.
	The Vital Statistics: Population and Health Reference Tables on the ONS website provide the number of marriages, and civil partnerships for the United Kingdom and its constituent countries. See Annual Time Series Data table at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/vital- statistics-population-and-health-reference-tables/spring-2013-update/rtd-annual-table.xls
	
		
			  EnglandWales
			 6 June 2013 Year All marriages Civil marriages Religious marriages Civil Partnerships2 All marriages Civil marriages Religious marriages Civil Partnerships2 
			 20111 .. .. .. 5,900 .. .. .. 252 
			 20101 .. .. .. 5,536 .. .. .. 268 
			 2009 219,890 148,241 71,649 5,443 12,553 7,709 4,844 244 
			 2008 222,869 149,325 73,544 6,276 12,925 7,971 4,954 282 
			 2007 222,483 148,273 74,210 7,635 12,884 7,925 4,959 294 
			 2006 225,971 150,313 75,658 14,383 13,483 8,037 5,446 560 
			 2005 233,827 153,863 79,964 1,790 13,978 8,306 5,672 67 
			 2004 258,185 175,875 82,310 .. 14,884 9,038 5,846 .. 
			 2003 255,577 174,466 81,111 .. 14,532 8,658 5,874 .. 
			 2002 242,112 161,348 80,764 .. 13,484 7,862 5,622 .. 
			 2001 236,203 152,888 83,315 .. 13,024 7,350 5,674 .. 
			 2000 253,836 162,805 91,031 .. 14,125 7,995 6,130 .. 
			 1999 249,490 154,853 94,637 .. 14,025 7,826 6,199 .. 
		
	
	.. Denotes not available
	1. Marriage statistics for England and for Wales are not available until final marriage statistics for the calendar year are published. Final figures for 2010 are due to be published in June/July 2013 alongside provisional marriage figures for England and Wales combined for 2011.
	2. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on 5 December 2005 in the UK, the first day couples could give notice of their intention to form a civil partnership. The first day that couples could formally form a partnership was 19 December 2005 in Northern Ireland, 20 December 2005 in Scotland and 21 December 2005 in England and Wales. (18 civil partnerships were formed under special arrangements before these dates. These are not included in the figures for England or Wales).
	Source: Office for National Statistics

Prisoners: Sentences

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prisoners were released on licence last year having served 25% or less of a custodial sentence.

Lord McNally: All sentences are served in full. For the majority of offenders, this means serving part of their sentence in custody and part in the community.
	The only way in which an offender can be released on licence having served 25% or less of a custodial sentence, in custody, would be if they were serving a sentence of 18 months or less and were released early on home detention curfew (HDC) at exactly the 25% point, or were released early on compassionate grounds. There were around 1,800 releases on HDC in 2012 where the offender had served exactly 25% of their custodial term in prison. Prisoners must serve at least 25% of the sentence before being released on HDC. There were no releases on compassionate grounds where an offender had served 25% or less of their custodial term in prison.
	The figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Unemployment: Internet Access

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assessed the findings of the report by Citizens' Advice Scotland Offline and left Behind: Digital Exclusion amongst Scotland’s CAB clients; and what support they are providing to benefit claimants who have difficulties in using the internet due to lack of access, lack of skills, disabilities and mental health problems.

Lord Freud: We have read the report and recognise that there is a small, but significant proportion of people in the UK, including in Scotland, who are currently unable to use the internet.
	We provide information on local free internet access, which includes the use of internet access devices in jobcentres. We have staff available in jobcentres who
	can help customers use these devices to access the services they need and direct them to IT skills training. Additionally we are also working with partners such as Digital Unite, Online Centres Foundation and GoON to develop digital skills more widely across society.
	We continue to provide support to our most vulnerable customers, whether in making a benefit or pension claim or looking for work. Those customers who are unable to use our digital channels will always be able to access our services. We will either give them the support and advice to enable them to use the digital channel or we will help them through our telephony or face-to-face channels.
	The growing importance of jobseekers possessing IT skills may be illustrated by the number of vacancies which include a requirement for these skills. Between 19 November 2012 and 30 April 2013, 5,707 vacancies across the UK were advertised on Universal Jobmatch which required specific IT skills. Of these, 241 were related to computer hardware, 916 to software, 3,262 to computer/IT services and 1,288 to internet services. Additionally, there will be a significant proportion of jobs advertised which require a working knowledge of IT but are not captured in one of the specific IT categories mentioned above.

Universal Credit

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of universal credit claimants they estimate will require budgeting advances to help with the system of payment of universal credit monthly in arrears.

Lord Freud: Budgeting support will be made available to support individuals so that they can make a successful transition to universal credit. However, claimant transition will be gradual over a four-year period and detailed estimates will be developed following learnings from the Universal Credit Pathfinder.